The psychometric characteristics of the Hungarian version of the self-report jealousy scale

Abstract

Background: Lots of unimodal and complex questionnaires can be identified, that measures jealousy. One of these is the 25 item Self-Report Jealousy Scale. Aim: The Hungarian version of the Self-Report Jealousy Scale has not been available yet, therefore the primary aim of the study was to establish it and examine the psychometric properties of this questionnaire. Method: Detailed psychometric analysis of the Self-Report Jealousy Scale was conducted on a large normative sample of healthy adults (N = 1384, mean age 27.3 [SD = 9.10] years) in a crosssectional, questionnairebased research design. Measures: Self-Report Jealousy Scale (SRJS), State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWB), WHO Well-being Index (WBI 5), Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS-H), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSESH). Results: The exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors (Relationship suspiciousness, Reasonable relationship jealousy, Social jealousy, Sibling jealousy) which taken together, explained 62% of the total variance. In contrast with the original three-structure model, the confirmatory factor analysis verifies the fourfactore model. The reliability analysis indicated good internal consistency for the instrument. The sex differences, the detailed analysis of age groups, and the differences based on marital status support the construct-validity. Furthermore, as in the previous researches, the low negative correlation between jealousy and self-esteem (r = –0.28, p < 0.001), and the low positive association between jealousy and depressive symptoms (r = 0.30, p < 0.001), and the moderate relationship with anxiety (r = 0.37, p < 0.001) support the Self-Report Jealousy Scale constructvalidity. Conclusions: The results indicate that the Hungarian version of the Self-Report Jealousy Scale (SRJS-H) is a reliable and valid measure for assessing the level of dispositional jealousy that gives an adequate instrument for further population-based and clinical studies.